diff --git a/acinclude.m4 b/acinclude.m4
index 9722710692414d95de194508eaffe319059e33fa..584f5e971ceb293f513c71d60d0a459e56bf8bb3 100644
--- a/acinclude.m4
+++ b/acinclude.m4
@@ -84,18 +84,3 @@ if test  "x$GNU_MAKE" = "xNot Found"  ; then
 fi
 AC_SUBST([GNU_MAKE])
 ])
-
-AC_DEFUN(
-[AST_C_ATTRIBUTE],
-[AC_CACHE_CHECK([for $1 attribute support],
-                [ac_cv_attribute_$1],
-                AC_COMPILE_IFELSE(
-                   AC_LANG_PROGRAM(
-                       [[static void foo(void) __attribute__ (($1));xyz]],
-                       []),
-                   have_attribute_$1=1, have_attribute_$1=0)
-               )
- if test "$have_attribute_$1" = "1"; then
-    AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([HAVE_ATTRIBUTE_$1], 1, [Define to indicate the compiler supports __attribute__ (($1))])
- fi
-])
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6252b23462e9c7535cc8939e174cb99e0766f015..5bb867803041877939fc29b71910b13f867b3dd7 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -614,9 +614,6 @@ AC_HEADER_TIME
 AC_STRUCT_TM
 AC_C_VOLATILE
 AC_CHECK_TYPES([ptrdiff_t])
-AST_C_ATTRIBUTE([malloc])
-AST_C_ATTRIBUTE([printf])
-AST_C_ATTRIBUTE([mallocx])
 
 # Checks for library functions.
 AC_FUNC_CHOWN